Collecting dietary requirements with your RSVPs

Quick answer: ask for dietary requirements in the same reply as attendance and meal choice, not in a second round of messages. Ask each guest by name, offer your menu choices plus one open question about allergies and needs, then send your caterer one list with names, tables and needs by the date in your contract.

Dietary requirements are the part of wedding replies that most often turns into a second job. The yes or no comes back, then a week later you realise nobody mentioned the coeliac cousin or the friend who cannot eat nuts. Collecting dietary requirements with your RSVPs, in one go, saves you the follow-up messages and gives your caterer what they need the first time.

Why ask about dietary needs in the same reply?

Because every separate question is another round of chasing. If you ask for a yes or no first and food later, you double the number of messages and give guests a second chance to go quiet. The guests who were slow the first time are usually the same ones who are slow the second time.

Asking once also helps the guest. When they reply, they are already thinking about the day: who is coming with them, what they would like to eat and what the kitchen needs to know. One reply that carries all three is easier for them and far easier for you.

What should you ask guests about food?

Keep it to three short things, asked for each person in the reply, not just the household:

• Their meal choice, if your caterer offers one. List the options as they appear on the menu.
• Any dietary needs, such as vegetarian, vegan, halal, kosher or gluten-free.
• Any allergies, in their own words, with a note on how serious they are.

One open question usually works better than a long tick list. Something like: “Do you have any dietary needs or allergies we should pass on to our caterer?” It is warm, it covers everything and it does not make anyone feel awkward about a preference. If you are inviting several guests in one household, ask for each name separately, so a child’s nut allergy does not get lost under a parent’s reply.

Which allergies does your caterer need to know about?

All of them, but UK law names 14 allergens that food businesses must tell customers about. The government’s allergen guidance for food businesses (updated 17 July 2026) lists them as celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, and tree nuts.

You do not need to turn the list into a form for guests. The same guidance says caterers are required to provide allergen information, so your job is simply to collect what guests tell you and pass it on clearly. Your caterer will know which dishes contain what and how to keep a serious allergy safe.

How do you pass dietary needs to your caterer?

Send one list, once, in the format your caterer asks for. If they have no preference, these columns work well:

• Guest name and table, so the right plate reaches the right person.
• Meal choice for each course, if there is a choice.
• Dietary need or allergy, written exactly as the guest described it.
• Serious allergies flagged at the top, so they are the first thing the kitchen sees.

Check your contract for the date final numbers and dietary needs are due, and send the list with your final headcount. Our guide to setting your RSVP deadline explains how to work back from that date, and the six-week countdown shows where it fits in the final weeks. If your venue does the catering, this is how AisleReply works with venues.

Where do couples get stuck with replies?

In the same few places, and food makes each one worse. The time: every missing allergy means another message, another wait and another update to the list, often late in the evening. The chasing: it usually lands on one of you, nudging relatives for details they forgot to give. The money: a guessed meal count can mean paying for plates nobody eats, as we explain in the real cost of a late RSVP. And the last-minute pressure: the week your caterer needs final numbers is the worst week to discover a gap.

How does AisleReply take the job off you?

With AisleReply, you get complete replies without the second round of questions. Each guest receives a personal WhatsApp message and replies in the chat, in their own language. Their meal choice and any dietary needs or allergies come back in that same reply, including for anyone they are bringing. Gentle reminders go out on their own to anyone who has gone quiet, and you can see a live headcount the whole way through. When your caterer asks for the list, it is already there. Our guide to collecting wedding RSVPs on WhatsApp explains more.

FAQs

Should we ask about dietary needs on the invitation itself?

Ask in the reply rather than on the invitation. The invitation sets the date and the tone; the reply is where each guest tells you who is coming, what they would like to eat and anything the caterer needs to know.

What if a guest tells us about an allergy after the deadline?

Pass it on to your caterer straight away, with the guest's name and table. Most caterers would much rather hear late than not at all, especially about a serious allergy.

Do we need to ask evening guests about food?

If they will be eating, yes. An evening buffet or late-night food can still contain allergens, so ask evening guests the same short question and give your caterer a separate evening list.

How should we ask about children's meals?

Ask in the same reply. Find out how many children are coming, roughly how old they are, whether they need a children's meal and whether any of them have allergies, so the caterer can plan portions and keep them safe.

The short version

Ask once: attendance, meal choice and dietary needs in the same reply, for every guest by name. Pass on everything guests tell you, flag serious allergies first and send your caterer one clear list by their date. For more planning help, browse the rest of our guides.